Market Wrap For November 12: Investors Continue To Speculate On The Fed's Tapering Measures

U.S. stocks traded lower throughout the large majority of Tuesday's trading session as investors continue to speculate on the timeline for the Fed's tapering measures. With the earnings season beginning to wind down and data on the economic front relatively sparse so far this week, traders decisions have been limited to deliberating on the liklihood of Fed action over the remainder of 2013. The Dow Jones declined 0.21 percent, closing at 15,750.67. The NASDAQ finished virtually unchanged, closing at 3,919.92. The S&P 500 declined 0.24 percent, closing at 1,767.69. Gold lost 1.12 percent to trade at $1,226.80 an ounce. Silver shed 2.71 percent to trade at $20.70 an ounce. Crude oil declined 2.14 percent, to trade at $93.10 a barrel.

The National Federation of Independent Business's small-business optimism dropped to 91.6 in October from 93.9 in September in the lowest reading since April. Redbook Chain Store sales rose 3.3 percent year over year versus 3.8 percent last week. The

will be implementing its first significant fee change since 2009, affecting both members and non-members. Changes will be made next year. US Treasury Secretary Lew speaking on Japanese television stated that the core strength in the U.S. economy is continuing and ending the year with “great optimism.” Andre Huszar, largely considered to be the “father of QE” in a Wall Street Journal today called the asset purchases “the greatest backdoor Wall Street bailout of all time.” The Federal Reserve released the results of a bank stress test under a “market shock” scenario in which US stocks decline 29 percent and the Euro Stoxx index down 27 percent. The Fed's Lockhart believes tapering could take place next month as QE isn't meant to be a permanent fixture of monetary policy. The president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta believes that a change of the Fed leader won't have a material impact on policy. The Fed's Kocherlakota believes that tapering would drag on an already slow economy. The president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis reiterated that the Fed should lower the unemployment threshold to 5.5 percent and must do “whatever it takes.” The International Energy Agency said in a report made public today that expanding production of unconventional oil outside OPEC nations will reduce the importance of Middle East production over the next decade. The region will, however, reclaim its advantage after 2020 as “the only large source of low-cost oil.” Oil prices are expected to climb steadily to $128 a barrel in 2012 terms by 2035. Chinese leaders are set to unveil a ten year reform plan in which liberalization of the economy is expected to be a key component.

During a TV interview with Deal Book Dan Loeb revealed his hedge fund has taken a stake in

There were no mention of how large a position, and what price. Pre market, FedEx was downgraded by analysts at Cowen to Market Perform from Outperform. The analysts have a $136 price target on the firm. Shares closed the day up 1.59 percent at $134.63.